People and Company News, Week of May 9, 2025
- Bill Shope has been named partner by Tidal Partners, an M&A strategic advisory boutique. Shope has spent more than 25 years in technology and covered the broader computing hardware sector for 18 years while serving as a managing director at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, where he was also deputy director of U.S. research.
- Jon Hoeg has been promoted to SVP, Portfolio Manager – Private Funds, by Inland Real Estate Investment Corporation. Hoeg will be responsible for managing the investment direction, business objectives, and performance of Inland Investments’ private funds structured as manufactured housing funds, multifamily and self-storage development funds, and QOZ funds. He will report to Nati Kiferbaum, chief strategy officer of Inland Investments. Hoeg has been with Inland Investments for over eight years and has served as a senior member of the asset management team since 2016. Prior to joining Inland, Hoeg held senior positions with McCaffery Interests, Ares Management (Wrightwood Capital) and Waterton Residential.
- John Lefferts was named head of Cetera Investors. He will focus on providing branch managers, advisors and their firms with tailored operational support, advanced technology and turnkey marketing resources. Most recently, he served as national head of business development at Equitable Advisors.
- Clint Brookshire was promoted to community leader by Avantax, a community of tax-focused financial professionals within Cetera. A widely known and popular member of the home office, Brookshire started his tenure through a predecessor company of Avantax more than 20 years ago. His wealth management journey with Avantax almost always involved advisor-facing roles, including his most recent stint as Head of Elite Consulting and Community Development where he managed Avantax business strategists working with the highest-producing firms.
- Gil Mermelstein has been named CEO of West Monroe, a global business and technology consulting firm, effective July 1, 2025. Kevin McCarty, co-founder and current chairman & CEO, will become executive chairman of West Monroe. Mermelstein, a 15-year veteran of the firm and currently the company president, becomes only the third CEO since the firm’s founding. Mermelstein has more than 30 years of industry and consulting experience. He joined West Monroe 15 years ago, initially leading and expanding the firm’s financial services practice. He also successfully led the growth and expansion of the firm’s East Coast business and the New York office and has been a key member of West Monroe’s board for 14 years.
- Bruce Shuman has been appointed CMO by AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a global specialty property casualty insurer. Shuman will lead AmTrust’s marketing strategy and team to enhance brand equity and market presence in support of multiline sales and distribution growth as well as policy retention. Prior to AmTrust, he was with The Hartford as chief digital officer. He also held previous leadership roles at Travelers in commercial operations and eBusiness, and at GE Capital.
- Patrick J. McGinnis Jr has been added as managing director and financial advisor by Nordwand Capital, a $4B multifamily office and RIA. McGinnis joins Nordwand to strengthen the firm’s investment and estate planning capabilities, supporting its strategic growth into new client markets. Prior to joining Nordwand, he served as a senior portfolio manager at Fiduciary Trust managing $300M in assets, where he specialized in customized investment management and estate planning solutions for wealthy individuals and families.
- SKY Leasing, an aviation investment manager, and JetBlue Airways announced that SKY has acquired JetBlue Ventures, JetBlue’s venture capital subsidiary. Since its founding in 2016, JetBlue Ventures has invested in 55 early-stage startups and made over 40 follow-on investments, resulting in eight exits in the form of acquisitions and public offerings. The JetBlue Ventures team will continue to be led by Amy Burr.
- Blackstone Life Sciences and Blackstone Credit & Insurance are acquiring certain future U.S. royalties and commercial milestones tied to XDEMVY, a human health treatment developed from Elanco’s lotilaner molecule, for $295M in cash. Elanco plans to repay portions of its term loans, cutting interest expense by about $10M. Approved in 2023, XDEMVY is the only FDA-approved treatment for Demodex blepharitis, a condition caused by an overpopulation of Demodex mites on the eyelids.
- Long Ridge Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on fintech and services sectors, has made a minority investment in Pacific Crest Services, a platform for independent insurance agents. PCS is a partner for entrepreneurial agents through its focus on mission, culture and agent success. The company serves more than 250 independent agencies across 36 states and maintains relationships with over 250 carriers. PCS will continue to operate under the leadership of its existing management team with no change to day-to-day operations.
- Grace Hill, a tech-enabled performance solutions provider for the real estate industry, announced the acquisition of HelloData, an AI-driven market analysis solutions for multifamily owners and operators. HelloData AI automates multifamily market analyses to provide insights into rents, concessions and amenities, drawing on publicly sourced data from over 35 million units across five million properties nationwide. The platform caters to property managers, owners, developers and brokers, through its user interface and APIs.
- Peak 10 Energy has closed a new secured credit facility through its wholly owned subsidiary, Peak 10 GRC Holdings, LP. The collateral supporting the facility consists of both operated and non-operated working interest properties in the Northern Midland Basin, Southern Delaware Basin, and the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin. West Texas National Bank is serving as the Sole Lead Arranger, Bookrunner, and Administrative Agent for the facility. Founded in 2023, Peak 10 is a pure-play Permian Basin company and has successfully closed nearly a dozen asset and capital market transactions since its inception. Peak 10 is a portfolio company of Legacy Star Capital Partners.
- Webull, an online investment platform, announced its collaboration with VISA on the Webull US platform. Visa Direct facilitates account funding as well as the movement of funds directly to eligible cards, bank accounts, and wallets. By integrating with Visa Direct, Webull users based in the United States can quickly transfer money between their Webull brokerage account and external bank accounts.
- Deerfield Management Company, L.P., announced the closing of the Deerfield Healthcare Innovations Fund III at over $600 million that aims to advance healthcare by investing in promising therapeutics, improving care delivery models, and elevating emerging technologies with the potential to shift existing paradigms, including machine learning and artificial intelligence.
- Atlas Holdings has closed its fifth flagship investment fund, Atlas Capital Resources V LP. Atlas officially launched fundraising in October 2024 and closed ACR V at its hard cap with $6.45B in committed capital, inclusive of the GP commitment and its associated Principals’ Fund. As of the closing, Atlas manages more than $16B of capital. Atlas today owns and operates a diversified group of 27 manufacturing and distribution businesses.
- Rotunda Capital Partners, an operationally oriented private equity firm focused on industrial businesses, held the closing of Rotunda Capital Partners Fund IV, L.P. with total capital commitments of $735M. Fund IV was significantly oversubscribed, closing well above its target of $550M as well as the initial hard cap. The predecessor fund, Rotunda III (2022 vintage), had total commitments of more than $405M. Fund IV completed its first investment in Capital Machine Technologies, Inc., a distributor and repair service provider of metal fabrication machinery.
- Vivo Capital, a global investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare and life sciences, has closed the third cycle of its Vivo Opportunity Fund and its affiliates with over $740M in commitments. The Public Fund invests in preclinical and clinical stage life sciences businesses that are developing or commercializing novel therapies for unmet medical needs. Vivo Opportunity Fund is an evergreen fund with three-year investment cycles and will follow the same strategy as its first and second cycles to invest in small- and mid-cap biotech and life sciences companies. The aim is to capture value from breakthroughs and clinical milestones.
